Victory in civic polls marks defeat of Cong policies: BJP

Vijay Kumar Malhotra, president of the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has described the victory of his party in the Delhi Municipal Corporation as the defeat of the programmes and policies of the state government led by Sheila Dikshit.

BJP candidates have performed well in North and East Delhi segments.

After the debacle in the civic polls, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and senior leaders of the Congress have been avoiding media personnel.

"It is the anti-incumbency vote against the Delhi government. It is a vote against price rise. Trifurcation of the MCD has not helped the Congress in any manner," Malhotra told rediff.com.

But BJP candidates have not done very well in South Zone. The splendid performance of Independent candidates in the polls for South Zone MCD has taken everyone by surprise.

The BJP was unwilling to admit that granting of tickets to relatives of party workers may have been one of the reasons behind its lackadaisical performance in South Zone.

According to sources, Sheila Dikshit had been confident about winning in East Delhi, but some Congress leaders, reportedly annoyed by the high-handedness of the CM and her son Sandeep, "engineered" the defeat of the official candidates.